The invention relates to a hand piece assembly for a disposable flushing nozzle unit for cleansing and/or irrigating surgical wounds.
Cleansing assemblies for cleansing and/or irrigating surgical wounds are well known in the prior art. Such cleansing assemblies are also referred to in the prior art as “pulse lavage” systems, which in addition to cleansing contaminated wounds are also used for effective intra-operative irrigation of wounds, for implant bed preparation in surgery, for cooling in surgical areas and in septic surgery. This can significantly simplify, speed up and, above all, improve the effectiveness of numerous steps in surgical medicine.
Such cleansing assemblies consist essentially of a hand piece and a disposable flushing nozzle assembly or a disposable flushing nozzle unit. The disposable flushing nozzle unit consists of a base body and preferably a multi-part cleansing tube with a spray nozzle, on whose free end for example a spray guard can be provided. The base body is fastened to the hand piece, which preferably comprises a multi-part housing with a revolver or pistol grip-like cross section.
To create a pumping effect, a pump mechanism with a pump membrane is provided in the base body of the disposable flushing nozzle unit and is caused to pulse by means of a drive mechanism provided in the hand piece. In this design, the drive mechanism provided in the hand piece generates a pulsing motion in the area of the connection of the base body, which deflects the pump membrane extending into that area with a pre-defined frequency and therefore causes a pulsation of the pump membrane. The pulsation of the pump membrane in combination with the pump mechanism of the disposable flushing nozzle unit creates a pumping effect by means of which a cleansing or irrigating fluid from an external source is introduced through a hose system connected with the base body into the cleansing tube and through the latter into the respective surgical wound.
Prior art hand pieces feature a pneumatically operated motor, which is housed in the preferably multi-part housing. The compressed air required for operation of the motor unit is supplied to the hand piece by means of a bulky air hose. Such pneumatically operated hand pieces are equipped with efficient pneumatically operated motors, which at an operating pressure of 5-7 bar ensure optimal cleansing and/or irrigation of surgical wounds. A disadvantage, however, is that the bulky pneumatic hose required for this design hinders easy handling of the hand piece. Also, the cleansing power of prior art pneumatic hand pieces cannot be individually adapted to the respective surgical requirements.
Further, economically priced hand pieces designed as disposable items are known which are disposed of after a single use in the operating room. They feature an electric motor housed in the hand piece, however with lower power, and are equipped with an internal electric power supply housed in the hand piece, preferably in the form of several batteries or rechargeable batteries. The cleansing power of such economically priced hand piece designed as disposable items is limited, however, and often insufficient. It is also especially disadvantageous that the batteries or rechargeable batteries, e.g. of type AA or AAA, housed in the hand piece have to be replaced after a short time of about 3-5 minutes.
Based on the foregoing, an object of the invention is to present a hand piece for a disposable flushing nozzle unit for cleansing and/or irrigating surgical wounds which features improved handling and simultaneous high cleansing power.